British Polaris Sub, Fishing Boat Collide Off Cape

June 11, 1985|By Stephen Kindland of The Sentinel Staff

COCOA — Coast Guard officials Monday were trying to reconcile differing accounts of how a 40-ton fishing boat collided with a British submarine carrying a Polaris missile with a dummy warhead, slightly injuring three people.

U.S. Coast Guard officials said the collision, about 10 miles southeast of Cape Canaveral, ripped a 16-foot hole in the 57-foot Proud Mary. ''She took a beating,'' a Coast Guard official said of the fishing boat.

The submarine HMS Resolution was not damaged and successfully completed the routine launch of a Polaris missile about 4:30 a.m. Monday.

An Air Force spokesman said the Proud Mary hit the forward left side of the Resolution at right angles about 9:30 p.m. Sunday then ''bounced'' down the side of the submarine and hit its rudder.

Coast Guard executive officer Stuart Vandre said Monday, ''All we know is that the sub was beginning to dive when it happened. We don't know if it was the conning tower, the main part of the sub or what that collided.''

No one from the Proud Mary could be reached for comment.

However, Lester Todd, who runs Canaveral Fishermen's Supply where the Proud Mary is moored, said the boat was hit from the side up to the bow.

An Air Force statement said the sky was clear and the submarine was showing normal navigation lights, including a beacon 80 feet above the surface atop a mast used to radio Polaris data to a support ship during underwater launches. The submarine was accompanied by the USS Emory S. Land, a support ship that monitors missile launches and ensures the sea lanes are clear.

Coast Guard rescue personnel used an electric pump to bail water from the Proud Mary's damaged bow, reaching port about 4:30 a.m. Monday, according to Coast Guard reports.

Lisa Decker, 20, was taken to Cape Canaveral Hospital after U.S. Navy medical personnel and Coast Guard officials arrived on the scene about 10:30 p.m. Decker had bruises on her back, ankles and knees and was released after X-rays showed no serious injuries, a hospital spokeswoman said.